Vessels of the First Star's Light
by BlackVoyager
Summary: Called by the First Star, Ezreal becomes a target of the Void and has a harrowing encounter with its servants. Fatally injured, Ezreal is saved by Ahri's Star Guardians, whose team he decides to use the Star's blessing to join. To him, this is an opportunity to make true his dream to see the world. But when one's destiny is tied to the heavens, painful responsibilities await...
1. I: Encounter

"Thanks for the good work!"

"No problem! See you tomorrow!"

With his farewell to the manager, Ezreal's evening-to-midnight shift at the corner shop came to a close. With the ring of a bell, the doors slid open, and Ezreal stepped out into the empty nighttime streets, bags in each hand carrying tonight's dinner and tomorrow's lunch, and headed home. Despite being a good half an hour away from his apartment, his exhausted mind already had his night planned out: microwave his frozen dinner, consider cleaning his room, sleep, and maybe try to start studying for that math test tomorrow.

 _Yeah, right. As if I need to study for math, of all things._

Reinvigorated with an air of cockiness and self-assurance, both of which were for good reason, Ezreal began his walk back home, noting that there wasn't a single soul in sight, no matter which direction he looked. This wasn't very surprising, for living in the northern district of Valoran City meant being in the proximity of the prestigious Valoran Academy. As such, most residents in the area were students of the school and their families, neither of whom have much reason to go out and about at midnight. The only real "attraction" in the area for visitors was the gorgeous and expansive Valoran City Park, but even that place was deserted after the sun sets. The liveliest place in the district by day, with the flip of a switch, would become completely devoid of people by night.

The urban legends of the park being dangerous at night may have also played a role in its nightly vacancy.

The complete absence of company didn't exactly bother Ezreal. On the contrary, he welcomed his nightly promenades as time alone – time to collect his thoughts by himself. With a daily school life that he can only describe as "hectic," followed by a rather lengthy shift at his corner store job, this walk home was really the only time each day when he can let his mind inconsequentially wander. Wander to topics like himself, his lifestyle, his aspirations, and…

 _...and my dream to see the world..._

Before his reveries could progress any further, Ezreal noticed something strange for the first time. Ahead in the distance, on his usual route home, he spotted flashing blue and red lights. A bit more walking later, and he made out the lights to be the lights of police cruisers and ambulances. He saw the scattered ends of yellow tape on orange cones, and he knew that a giant mess was sitting between him and home.

Ezreal grimaced. He was pretty confident that had this occurred any other night, his piqued curiosity would have gotten the better of him, imploring him to walk onto the scene and see everything for himself, until he got kicked out. Today, however, was exceptionally long, and Ezreal just wanted to get home with as little hassle as possible. A cursory glance told him it was a crime scene, so there was no doubt he would be detained as a witness should an officer spot him.

Turning heel, he decided to take a small detour… and walk right through the city park.

 _Bad idea_ , the back of Ezreal's mind told him, but he honestly didn't really care. Urban legends were just legends, and he wasn't such a wimp that he'd be afraid to take a walk in the dark alone. He just wanted to get home, eat some food, and go to sleep, all as soon as possible.

Five minutes later, a good distance into the park, Ezreal began to register that something felt very, very wrong. The air was _cold_. It has only been a month into the school year, so he should be experiencing the fair-weather temperatures of mid-spring. But right now, he could barely control his arms from shivering and his teeth from chattering. Whenever he exhaled, a foggy mist would escape, indicative of December climate, and _not_ early May. Knitting his brows and feeling thoroughly disturbed, Ezreal quickened his pace, determined to get through this bizarre place as fast as he could.

" _Kkkkgggrrrraaaoooggghhhhh…"_

And then he heard it. It was an otherworldly noise, a gargle that sounded of an emanation from hell. It was equal parts a growl, laugh, roar, moan, and snarl, and hearing it just once chilled Ezreal to the bone. Hairs standing on end, he turned his attention to the source. It came from beyond a bush and treeline. Ezreal slowly and soundlessly walking over to take a look, his damned curiosity somehow inescapably grasping him at the worst of times, hunching over to remain hidden as long as possible. With every step, the demonic sounds got louder, clearer, and more frequent. A wet slurping sound also became apparent as he approached the bushes.

After what seemed like an eternity, Ezreal finally reached the bush line, and peeking over, he saw an image beyond a sane man's comprehension.

Before even processing what he saw, all his other senses went into overdrive. The stench of burnt and rotting flesh bombarded his nose, his tongue tingled from the metallic taste of blood in the air, and the pores all over his body were pervaded by an immediate, intangible, and concentrated miasma of fear, evil, and death. Finally, his mind catching up to his eyes, he saw two _monsters_ hunched over the broken corpse of a child, likely no older than eight years old, and they were _feeding_. One was a massive worm with four limbs, its gaping maw tearing through the corpse's left leg, with caustic fluids spilling out with every swing of its telescoping tongue. The second was a giant mantis, with forelimbs ending in wicked, elongated blades, wings occasionally flapping on its back.

Recoiling in fear at the traumatizing and gruesome sight, Ezreal fell back, landed on the gravel path, and let out a short scream of terror. Hearing the noise, the mantis turned to him, and then leaped forward and _vanished_.

 _Oh, fu-!_

Ezreal knew that if he stayed sitting there, he was going to die. That vanishing bug had no doubt had its crosshairs trained on him, and it was going to kill him. He immediately dropped his bags of food, turned, and ran through the towards the crime scene from earlier harder than he ever ran in his entire life. Some part of him was hoping beyond hope that the authorities will somehow manage to deal with an invisible, flying, alien, as absurd as it seemed. The trees and his fear must have massively disoriented his normally flawless spatial awareness and sense of direction, for when he emerged back on the asphalt roads of the residential area streets, there was not a single officer in sight. All that greeted him was an apartment complex, whose residents were likely all asleep with locked doors at this time of night. Ezreal began to despair, if only for a moment.

"No…! Not yet…!" he cried, still unwilling to surrender to his fate.

Without thinking, he ran into the alleyways between buildings, and towards the dumpsters. He realized that he was likely cornering himself, but there really was no other escape path, and he was grasping at the vain hope that he might be able to hide amongst the garbage in the alley.

And then a white-hot, burning sensation exploded along his entire back.

"Aaaaggggghhhhh!" Ezreal cried out in pain, as his entire backslide got cleaved nearly in two by the extended blade-arm of the monster. His knees buckled as he tumbled forward, face unceremoniously hitting the pavement beneath him. All of his energy, due to the injury, got sapped from his body as he laid prone and motionless on the ground like a stringless marionette, terminating any chance of him escaping. And surviving.

Lifting his head just enough to see in front of him, Ezreal saw the long, clawed, green legs of the monster that slashed him in the back re-emerge from some hole in space. The rapid blood loss had already made him far too delirious to question the surreal abilities of his predator, and whatever thought he had left were interrupted by the wracking pain in his body every time he choked up blood with each attempt to breath.

 _Man, this sucks._

Sensing the monster stalk up to him, Ezreal turned his head to the side and closed his eyes, adrenaline the only thing keeping him conscious. And with a long exhale befitting of an old man in his twilight years, he resigned himself to death.

 _Ah, I feel cold..._

Fully knowing he was going to die, and in a world of simultaneous and conflicting pain and numbness, Ezreal's lips turned up into a melancholy smile as he felt strangely peaceful for the first time in a long time. His life, he decided, was a good one. If he had one single regret, it would be that he never…

 _I never did get to…_

For Ezreal, what was supposed to be his final train of thought also went interrupted, for he heard a loud blast emanate from the alleyway entrance. Then he felt a searing ball of heat fly over him, a temporary reprieve from his dropping body temperature and the freezing air, and smash into the monster. Ezreal used the last ounce of his strength to will his eyes open and once again lift his head, trying to figure out what exactly happened in the past second, and what was supposed to be the last second of his life. If he had any capacity for reaction left, he would've been shocked to see the charred, burning remains of what was going to be his killer, laying haphazardly by the dumpsters in front of him. With the threat of his killer removed, all the adrenaline seemed to have subsided at once, and he instantly began to black out.

In his last waking moment, Ezreal heard a set of footsteps and the floating pieces of conversation carried by the familiar yet unplaceable voices of four females.

"…hri… go… surroundings... more..."

"...Sor… heal…"

"What… do… him? …strange…"

"I …take care … him. …watch …closely…"

"Yes, indeed. _The First Star has spoken_."

And Ezreal's consciousness finally gave way.


	2. I: Warriors and a Dream

_Preamble:_

Unbelievable. It seems that I look away for a second and half a year goes by. I planned to update months ago, but school got in the way. In the meantime, this story has gone through rather furious redrafting, so it was rather difficult to establish a foothold with which to consolidate and publish any story elements. Not much to say other than an apology to those who waited so long. This chapter's content might even be disappointing because it doesn't cover nearly enough ground to justify a half-year wait.

* * *

Four female warriors flew through the night.

"I see something! I'm going on ahead!" cried out Sarah Fortune, as she zoomed past her teammates soaring through the sky.

"Sarah, wait! It's dangerous!" yelled Ahri after her, but her warning had already fallen on deaf ears, as the only remnant of her hotheaded friend was a faint trail of starlight. In mere moments, she had become a speck in the horizon.

With a grit of her teeth, she turned to the two girls flying alongside and behind her.

"Soraka! Syndra! We have to catch up!" With a burst of magical energy, the three of them sped of across the sky, towards the park, and towards their friend.

Sarah's breakneck pace wasn't entirely reckless. She was no fool, and they were all aware that they were in a race against time. For three days, they knew a vessel would be targeted, yet they were never able to find it. Tirelessly, they searched, and to no avail.

Until a scarce fifteen minutes ago, Soraka felt a resonance in her soul.

For Ahri, this was a source of immense frustration. For one, it was rather aggravating that the target of there three-day search was under their noses the whole time.

More importantly, she would _not_ have another person, because of her negligence, die.

Anxiety was beginning to build up. She had no idea how she'd deal with it if she failed another time.

"Ahri," came the calm voice of Syndra. It had the extra and much-needed affect of settling her down and prevent her mind from drifting off too far. "There is a stray. Shall I deal with it?"

Ahri chastised herself. She clearly wasn't thinking straight or paying attention if she failed to notice a monster so close. She closed her eyes and shook her head. "No. I'll take care of it. You two catch up to Sarah."

Syndra and Soraka nodded in unison and sped off. Simultaneously, Ahri dove down to deal with the stray in the treeline by the park. From this distance, she could tell it was a Spitter. She opened her right hand, and a shimmering blue orb appeared atop her palm. With a sharp inhale, she surrounded herself with three orbiting flames, and dashed onto the ground. _One._

The Spitter turned to her as soon as she landed. With a gargled roar, it extended its tongue upward and shot a massive blob of caustic fluid into the air. The projectile arced through the air with deadly velocity, straight for Ahri's face. Her eyes narrowed, and she dashed a second time toward the Spitter, narrowly dodging the venom as it burned a metre-wide hole straight through the ground. _Two._

More flames surrounded her body as she ran towards the monster. Half a second later, the distance was sufficiently closed, and the flames all flew away from her body and right into the Spitter, colliding with its worm-like body. It staggered as it momentarily lost its balance. Ahri could see that her foxfire did significant damage, but not enough. Fine then.

Almost as if on reflex, the Spitter opened its maw massively wide and unleashed a humungous ball of ooze. It rolled toward Ahri, burning, melting and killing everything in its path, but it was far too slow to even hope to hit its target. Long before the toxic ball could reach her, Ahri had already dashed once more, this time landing right behind the Spitter. _Three._ _Checkmate._

With a self-satisfied smirk, Ahri thrusted forward her right arm, and the orb in her hand flew toward the Spitter. It penetrated its body with devastated force. The monster released an ear-splitting shriek as it the orb flew back to Ahri's waiting hand, striking through its body a second time. With such critical damage, Ahri knew that this was enough to kill it. The Spitter began to glow purple, overloading with otherworldly energy, and it exploded, with Ahri barely leaping away in time. There was some ironic courtesy in the monster's self-disposal, for it left no trace of its presence but the indentations caused by its spit hitting the ground. The fluids themselves have all vanished without a trace upon its death.

Breathing a sigh of relief and giving herself a mental pat on the back for a job well done, Ahri took a moment to take in her surroundings. Trees upon trees, surrounding a clearing bathed in moonlight – a rather innocuous sight… until she saw the battered, brutalized corpse of a boy. A moment's look made it clear that before she intervened, the stray Spitter was feeding on this body.

If she wasn't already used to such a sight, she would've vomited, but all she could muster were tears. In her eyes, this boy's death was her fault. She was careless, complacent, living a peaceful school-life at the Academy when she could've saved him. Self-hatred swelled in her chest as her disappointment and sadness gave way to rage and frustration.

She walked towards the broken body, taken in every sickening detail. The still-open eyes, the gaping mouth, the missing limbs, the rotting flesh – these were all reminders and lessons… for her to never repeat such a transgression again. She kneeled down and placed her left hand on the boy's chest. She couldn't save him, but the least she could do was ease the burden on his loved ones.

"Kiko, please," she muttered, to seemingly no one in particular. A high chirp rang through the air and the orb in her right hand burst, and out flew a small, fuzzy fox-like spirit. Her familiar, Kiko, and a physical manifestation of her powers, acting as her companion in all her trials and tribulations.

With another chirp, Kiko dematerialized into glimmers of light, and he entered the body of the boy. Eventually, a dull, green flame rose out the corpse's chest, seemingly embraced by Kiko's light.

"May your soul find peace amongst the stars," Ahri chanted, and what was dull viridian became brilliant emerald. It shot up into the sky and parted the clouds, eventually become indistinct from the many stars in distant space. Such a process had the consequence of letting all the boy's loved ones know that he passed in peace, rather than suffering. It would not prevent the pain of grieving, but it at least eased the full process.

Such a side-quest was as long a detour as she would allow. She steeled her eyes, re-enveloped her body in the orange-pink light of the First Star, and soared back into the sky, determined to catch up with her friends.

* * *

While Ahri disposed of the stray Spitter, Sarah had already reached the alleys of a residential district. Specifically, she had followed the presence that she recognized to be that of the predatory and arm blade-equipped Leaper. The worst part was that Leapers had the rather annoying ability to cloak themselves in some form of magical camouflage, turning completely imperceptible to the eye. All she could do was pick up its traces, so her chase took far longer than she would've liked.

However, she eventually found her target. She just hoped she didn't arrive too late.

Lying in front of a dumpster was a blond boy who looked far too familiar for her liking. He lay face-down in a pool of his own blood, audibly groaning in pain and gasping for life. Standing above him was the insectoid Leaper, arm raised and poised to relieve the boy of his head. Not good.

In the span of a few milliseconds, Sarah had materialized a white, long-barreled handgun into her right hand, and channeled as much explosive magic as she could in such an urgent time window. She pulled the trigger, and a white-hot blast of magic and starlight flew out and shot towards the monster. In a single hit it blasted a hole through the Leaper's back, and it collapsed, its body now a pile of lifeless matter.

"Sarah!" came the voice of Syndra. It seemed that they finally arrived.

Sarah gave a non-committal turn of her head over her shoulder. "Yo. You're here."

"What happened here?" implored Syndra, urgency in her voice.

Sarah didn't bother to answer, after all, it was pretty obvious with a look, and she didn't exactly want to needlessly spend time around Syndra. Hard time trusting her and all that.

She was rather curious that Ahri wasn't here too. Probably took a detour.

"Tell Ahri that I'm taking a look around – go secure the surroundings and stuff. There may be more of them." With that, orange light enveloped her body as she flew off.

Syndra could only sigh in response. It was apparent from her curt attitude that they were on the wrong foot. "How impatient she is," she uttered under her breath. "Soraka, please heal the boy."

"Okay," came the quiet response of Soraka, the taciturn fourth member of their team. She ran to the boy and placed one hand on the laceration on his back while the other channelled stellar energy into her staff. In moments, a soft glow embroidered the two, basking the grim alley in a warm, inviting aura. It was quite soothing, Syndra would admit, and she welcomed its atmospheric comfort.

"What reason did they have to do this to him?" asked Soraka. Syndra could hear from the shaking in her voice that she was frightened and saddened by this gruesome scene. And Soraka had a point. The Void monsters were a nuisance and threat, yes, but they never targeted random civilians. They only ever targeted vessels like them. "It's strange," Soraka continued. "He is not one of us, yet I feel a strange sense of kinship with him."

Syndra found that very curious. Soraka's extrasensory perceptive abilities only extended to those with a similar connection to the stars as she. The fact that she could feel that the blond boy on the ground was both not a Star Guardian and somehow possess a connection to her was strange and self-contradictory.

"I don't know who he is," Syndra finally replied, "or what he is. But the safest bet is to temporarily take care of him. At least nurse him back to perfect health." She narrowed her eyes on the boy as she began to analyze his appearance, his situation. "I suspect we will have to watch him very closely for a whi-"

Syndra was cut off by an audible gasp from Soraka. She turned to her with widened eyes. "What is it? Did you learn something?"

"Yes. It seems the First Star has spoken."

* * *

For the first time in an eternity, Ezreal dreamed.

He dreamed he was soaring through the night sky, which shimmered with an otherworldly brilliance as the stars shone with full force, unhindered by city lights and clouds. It was the dead of night, but it was comfortably warm, like a summer morning after a night of rain. On his back, beautiful, angelic and feathered wings of pure white sprouted and flapped with the wind, propelling him through this dazzling ballet with speed and grace.

It was a heart-stopping, breathtaking, and awe-inspiring feeling: Ezreal was _flying_.

He looked down, and after overcoming a slight wave of vertigo, he saw all of Valoran City lying below him. The sprawling metropolis and its surrounding suburban districts looked more like an architecture student's diorama than the entertainment centre of the continent. The city truly was sleepless – pedestrians and drivers filled the sidewalks and streets – yet nobody seemed to look up and notice him.

It was at this moment when Ezreal realized that he was, in fact, dreaming. But this felt far too real, far too visceral to be a dream. He smelled the air, heard the barrelling of cars, and felt the wind with such impossible clarity that it had to be all inexplicably real. This was a dream that was so clear and so vivid that the dreamer would recall every detail after it ends and he wakes up.

But Ezreal didn't want it to end. He was flying. For the first time in his life, he no longer cared or considered about external circumstances. No more "why," "what," or "how" – he just wanted this feeling to last forever.

The feeling that, after such a long life of tedium and monotony, he was finally invigorated… and most importantly, free.

Despite having never dreamt it before, the innate familiarity with which Ezreal experienced this dream made him feel like he had lived this over and over for his entire life. Somehow, the very stillness he despised in his waking life magnified the sensation of pleasure he felt in this world.

But he was not – nor would he ever be – prepared for what came next.

" _What sweet, sweet fruit, no?"_

A disembodied voice resonated in Ezreal's mind. The voice was genderless, ageless, as if some thought or will was crystallized into a language and then delivered without a speaker. What Ezreal "heard" may well have just been his own voice, or at least some perverse reflection of it. Whatever elation was experienced just moments ago was immediately replaced with dread and apprehension. This freedom was going to disappear.

"Who are you…"

…is what he tried to ask, but he couldn't speak. He tried to move him limbs, to turn his body to look around, but his whole body didn't respond. He could only watch as the stars, one by one, began to disappear, and clouds began to mask the sky. The sounds of the city below subsided. The night suddenly became freezingly cold, . His back began to ache, and looking over his shoulder, Ezreal realized with great horror that his wings have nearly completely faded away. It can't end like this!

" _Lost child. You search and yearn with no avail."_

The stars died out. The wind froze. The city lights went off and all life in the streets halted. It was like time stopped. The smell of gasoline and street food had disappeared, and was replaced by the pungent, scathing smell of antiseptic. Ezreal willed as hard as he could for the return of all that just left him.

" _Remember this taste and rejoice, boy, for it is my gift to you."_

And Ezreal woke up.

* * *

 _Author's Notes:_

I would like to start by saying I am a novice author. I have never written any fiction beyond flash fiction, so long-term character development or multi-dimensional characterization are new concepts for me. I hope you go easy on me as my writing would hopefully improve with each chapter, if only by a little bit. Please let me know if any statements I make are too on-the-nose. I would like to avoid underestimating my readers.

As of right now, this story will take a roughly Shakespearean 5-act structure. It will focus on interpersonal relations between the 5 members of Ahri's team, as well as deal with the introspection and struggles that comes with becoming a Star Guardian. Main inspirations for this type of narrative come from the darker magical girl anime shows, though I will try my best not to make my story excessively derivative. It is important for me to establish that this is NOT a harem story. I don't even think there will be a main pairing. That may change as I get a better feel for my character relations. What you can expect is for camaraderie and trust to build between Ezreal and each one of the SGs as he earns their trust and respect (this would go both ways).

I found ways to tie in other elements of the LoL universe into this story in the future. I hope those integrations prove interesting.


End file.
